Electrical contact clip



Patented Aug. 31, 1943 ELECTRICAL CONTACT CLIP Theodore Birkenmaier, St. Louis, Mo., assignor to W. N. Matthews Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., a

corporation of Missouri Application February 18, 1942, Serial No.. 431,362

(Cl. ,Z4-123) 4 Claims.

between a guy wire and an anchor rod or the like y under all conditions of service and during all periods of the life of the connection; and the provision of a device of the class described which is very easy to apply, which is substantially tamper-proof, and which is economical to manufacture.

The invention accordingly comprises the elements and combinations of elements, features of construction, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the structures hereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawing, in which is illustrated one of various possible embodiments of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the clip;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a guy wire shown looped through the eye of an anchor rod, and showing the grounding clip in an initial position for application;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but showing a progressive position of the clip;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a final position of the clip;

Fig. 5is a vertical section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and,

Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5, but showing conditions after some flattening due to age has taken place in the guy wire within the anchor ySimilar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

It will be understood that, while the invention is described in connection with a guy wire in an eye of an anchor rod, it is equally well effective on eyes associated with other line hardware, such as eyes on bolts through which are threaded guy or other wires.

Guy wires such as shown at numeral I in the drawing are ordinarily held in position by anchor rods such as indicated at 3. The anchor rods 3 have suitable anchoring means buried in the ground at their lower ends (not shown), and

these anchors form convenient grounding means for the Wire I, provided a good electrical connes tion can be maintained between `the two at I.the eye. Ordinarily, as shown, the guy wire I is looped through the eye 5 formed on the anchor rod 3 and rests in acradle portion 1.

Heretofore screw-clamped wedges and the like have been inserted within the eye and forced against the loop portion of the guy wire within the eye. This was unwieldly and costly at best7 and could readily be stolen.

Furthermore, a permanent electrical connection was not assured, because with age the portion 9 of the guy wire I resting in the cradle portion 'I tended to flatten out or compress, as indicated at 9 in Fig. 6 (compare with the new wire illustrated in Fig. 5). Since the former wedges were not resilient, they would thereupon release their hold, and the good electrical connection was destroyed until the clamp became tightened again. Thus, to maintain a good connection constant inspection and adjustment was necessary. All these troubles are avoided by means of the present invention.

Referring again to the drawing, numeral II generally shows the new grounding clip. It is made up of an initially fiat strip of spring conducting material such as phosphor bronze having a saddle-shaped portion I3 curved to rest upon the bottom I5 of the eye 5.

The other side of the clip is made up as an oppositely curved and larger saddle-shaped portion I1 about equal to the expected curvature of the loop I9 of the guy wire I in lthe eye 5, that is, also about equal to the curvature of the cradle 1. A sloping portion 2| joins the saddle-shaped portions I3 and I1 on one side. On the other side, a portion 23 is joined to the upper saddle shape I1, and extends downward, but is not connected tothe opposite side of the small saddle portion I3. The free end 25 of the side 23 is adjacent to the free end` 21 of the saddle I3, when the device is in its normal open position, such as shown in Fig. 1.

On the free end 21 is a struck-up lug 29 which, when the side 23 is sprung to the dotted-line position, permits the end 25 thereof to spring in behind the struck-up, wedge-shaped lug 29. Thus the member 23 is held in a position somewhat analogous to that occupied on the other side of the device by the connection portion 2 I, the spring of the device maintaining the connection.

Remembering that the device is fairly stiff when closed, but springy when open, its operation is as follows:

The free ends 25 and 21 of the members 23 and I3 respectively are inserted into the eye 5, .from one side of the same, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Then the device II is pushed in as indicated in Fig. 2, whereupon the saddle I3 rotates on its support I5 while the connecting angle 3I springs in under the loop I9 and also through the eye 5, part 23 having at this time passed completely through. This brings the parts into the position shown in Fig. 3, the saddles I3 and Il tending to spring apart to form rm electrical contacts between the anchor and guy-Wire parts respectively.

If desired, the device may be left as shown in Fig. 3, in which event it will be seen that the lug 29 is not a necessary item. However, it is better to have and to make use of this lug by pushing the side 23 inward from the Fig. 3 position to the Fig. 4 position, as indicated. This maybe done by hand or by means of a suitable tool, such as a hammer or the like. This not only brings about an additional tendency for the saddles I3 and Il to be biased apart by compression in the side 23,

but it tensions the device more symmetrically.'

Also, although it is not impossible to spring the member 23 out again over the lug 29, it is rather diiTicult to do without special tools. Therefore thoughtless tampering with the device by boys, and even theft, is substantially discouraged. Struck-up lug 29 and the free end 25 of the member 23 thus constitute a latch which is closable after application of the clip to the eye.

An important feature of the invention is shown in Figs. 5 and 6. Fig. 5 shows a new guy wire in pOsition with the present grounding clip in place. After the assembly ages, the guy Wire tends to compress or iiatten as indicated in Fig. 6, Whereupon the saddle I'I follows it right along. Both saddles I3 and I I maintain their tensions and the electrical grounding in an old guy-wire-anchor assembly is therefore just as effective as in a new assembly.

In addition, even without a tendency for the guy wire to flatten, the present clip maintains a good electrical ground even though the tension between the anchor rod 3 and the Wire I is reduced in service.

Another feature is that the relatively movable portions 25 and 21 of the members 23 and I3 respectively form a sort of springing, entering Wedge which forms means for quite easily introducing the device into one side of the eye 5 (Fig. 2). From this point on, it is 11o diilicult matter to press upon the opposite flat side 2I in driving the device home, or if it is made up of exceptionally stii strip, to apply a blow at 2 I.

The generally keystone shape shown in Fig. 4 is desirable because it gives a generally streamlined effect to the contours of the assembly of guy wire, anchor rod and clip. Other quadrilateral or similar shapes may be used, but in general they should be characterized by outwardly concave or similar endwise seating members such as I3 and Il, with springy side-wise members, one of the latter having a free end such as at 25.

It will be understood that the saddle-shaped portions l and il, while being shown round in the example. may be or" other concave forms, such as V-shapes or the like.

In View of the above, it Will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions Without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

l. A grounding clip for eyes containing guy wires or the like, comprising a relatively lat strip of spring metal having a generally quadrilateral endwise shape, said shape consisting in oppositely located and directed concave portions, said concave portions being joined on one side of the quadrilateral by a relatively straight portion of the strip which is held at both ends to said concave portions, a fourth relatively straight side of the quadrilateral shape being joined to one of said concave portions and having its other end normally free, the adjacent end oi the other saddle-shaped portion being also normally free, and latch means for joining said free ends after the clip is in position within an eye, said latch means comprising a struck-up wedge-shaped lug on said other saddle-shaped portion cooperating with the end of said relatively straight fourth side, the length of said fourth side being such that, when cooperating with said lug, both of said straight portions are placed in compression whereby the concave portions are biased apart and make engagement in a wire-containing eye.

2. A grounding clip comprising a quadrilaterally shaped strip of relatively i'lat conducting metal, said quadrilateral shape being normally open at one corner and consisting of a relatively small-saddle-shaped side adjacent said open corner, a relatively large-saddle-shaped side opposite said sniall-saddle-shaped side, one other side of the quadrilateral shape being continuous with both of the saddle-shaped portions, and means for latching the remaining side of the shape to the adjacent saddle-shaped portion.

3. A grounding clip for guy eyes having at one end a relatively-small-radius seat and at the other end a relatively-large-radius seat for seating a guy wire, comprising a quadrilaterally shaped strip of relatively fiat conducting metal, said quadrilateral shape being openable at one corner and consisting of a relatively small-saddle-shaped side adjacent said corner for engaging said small-radius seat, and a relatively largesaddle-shaped side opposite said small-saddleshaped side for engaging the large radius of the guy wire.

4. A grounding clip for guy eyes having at one end a relatively-small-radius seat and at the other end a relatively-large-radius seat for seating a guy wire, comprising a quadrilaterally shaped strip of relatively flat conducting metal, said quadrilateral being openable at one corner and consisting of a relatively small-saddle-shaped side adjacent said corner for engaging said small-radius seat, and a relatively largesaddle-shaped side opposite said small-saddleshaped side for engaging the large radius of the guy wire, the other sides oi the quadrilateral converging from the large to the small-saddle-shaped side.

THEODORE BIRKENMAIER. 

